Assassination - I Can Save You

Chu Jin froze.

He stared at Shen Mengzhi for a long time without blinking, his expression almost blank for the first time.

“Those words,” his voice was a little rushed, “what did you mean?”

“When you said you missed me, what did you mean? Does it mean that in these eight years, you never forgot me either? That when I was thinking of you, you were thinking of me too?”

Shen Mengzhi lowered his gaze, silent.

Chu Jin looked at him and suddenly thought of something. He asked softly, “That Blank Tablet in the Firefly Study, was it for me?”

—Nowhere to begin writing, nothing that could be said.

Shen Mengzhi no longer remembered his mood when he erected that tablet, nor did he recall why he had never inscribed a single word on it. Perhaps it was truly because it was ineffable. Over these years, he had never spoken of this matter to anyone. If Chu Jin hadn't been alive, he might have taken this secret with him, to rot in the earth a hundred years later.

He hesitated, saying, “I......”

Before he could finish, he suddenly heard a sharp whistle of something cutting through the air above his head, howling towards them with biting killing intent.

Chu Jin’s reaction was astonishingly fast. In an instant, the gentle expression on his face vanished completely, replaced by a sudden chill. He pulled Shen Mengzhi to his side, dodging an arrow aimed at his back.

There was no time to breathe. The two spun and dodged behind a pillar of the Moon-Plucking Tower, narrowly missing the several arrows that followed. Chu Jin stared at the arrows embedded deep in the wooden pillar, his expression frighteningly cold. “There are archers on the mountain.”

Shen Mengzhi said, “Someone wants to kill you.”

To brazenly ambush with archers in Du City, intending to assassinate the current Prince Regent, meant the mastermind behind this had no intention of letting them live. The other party must have made ample preparations, waiting only for Chu Jin's death to replace him. Afterward, they would use their power to suppress any dissent, and no one would dare to investigate this assassination attempt.

Thinking of this, neither of their expressions was good. The situation to come would surely be a life-or-death struggle.

Shen Mengzhi’s breathing was a little unsteady. He squeezed Chu Jin’s fingers, speaking quickly, “You should go, the person they want to kill is you......”

The next moment, his voice came to an abrupt halt.

A hand covered his eyes. A warm touch spread from before him, completely blocking his vision.

Chu Jin's voice fell beside his ear, carrying a hint of a helpless smile, light yet heavy. “Close your eyes.”

An immense panic suddenly rose in Shen Mengzhi’s heart.

His waist was held tightly by the other person, a steady heartbeat sounding by his ear, but this brought him no comfort at all.

“What are you doing?” His voice nearly broke. “Chu Jin, what are you doing?”

His answer was the sudden sound of something tearing through the air.

A dense volley of arrows arrived in an instant. The silver-gleaming arrows formed an inescapable encirclement, piercing through the Moon-Plucking Tower in a flash.

Under such an assault, there was only one way to survive.

Shen Mengzhi lay on the cold bluestone floor. The person on top of him had leaned down completely, shielding him securely underneath.

From beginning to end, the hand covering his eyes did not move in the slightest.

In the darkness, Shen Mengzhi could see nothing. It seemed the other person simply didn't want him to face this, so they had deprived him of his sight.

He couldn't break free, only able to feel the warmth on his eyes slowly fading. Shen Mengzhi struggled to find his voice. “......Chu Jin?”

Chu Jin hummed softly in acknowledgment and said no more, but Shen Mengzhi smelled the faint scent of blood.

His movements suddenly stiffened. That extreme fear once again crept into his heart, crushing him until he could barely breathe.

Chu Jin sensed his emotions. His grip tightened, and he moved closer to the other's ear, whispering, “I'm here.”

Shen Mengzhi’s chilled blood slowly warmed again because of these words.

“If these archers can't confirm we're dead, they'll repeat what just happened in a little while.” Chu Jin’s speech was a bit slow, but very steady. “We need to...... escape before that.”

Shen Mengzhi asked, “What do you plan to do?”

The next second, the hand over his eyes was removed. He saw the long-missed light, and then his wrist was seized by Chu Jin. The man gripped him tightly, as if he would never let go again, and in this extremely dangerous situation, he actually managed a faint smile.

There was a trace of blood on his cheek where an arrow had grazed it. His gaze lingered on Shen Mengzhi’s face for a moment before he finally uttered two soft words.

“Hold on to me.”

The moment the last word fell, he suddenly exerted his strength, pulling Shen Mengzhi into his arms. Then, he leaped onto the railing and, without warning, jumped from midair!

The move was too sudden. Hundreds of arrows instantly followed their descent, but in a flash, the two had already fallen into the churning river water and were swallowed by the current in an instant.

When the archers, unwilling to give up, continued to shoot at the river's surface, they could no longer find any trace of the two.

Seeing this, the leader waved his hand, ordering his men to cease their attack.

“What do we do? Boss, they got away,” someone said. “His Highness, the Prince of Liang, ordered us to kill the Prince Regent without fail......”

The leader's face was grim as he stared at the turbulent river. After a long moment, he shot the speaker a cold, exceptionally impatient glance.

The latter flinched, but then heard him say, “Do you still want to live? If we let the Prince of Liang know they escaped, will you still want that head on your shoulders?”

“But...... how do we report back? The Prince of Liang said he wants to see the Prince Regent’s head with his own eyes.”

The leader narrowed his eyes. “The Prince Regent was hit by an arrow and was already heavily injured. This river's current is swift and its depths are unfathomable. If he jumped in, he's undoubtedly dead.”

“We've already done what the Prince of Liang ordered. As for what he wants......” His voice suddenly dropped, and he whispered to a subordinate beside him, “Go find a beggar by the roadside, ruin his face, and present his head to the Prince of Liang. Just say Chu Jin is dead—”

“It’s time for a new era.”

When Shen Mengzhi woke up, he felt sore all over, as if he had been run over.

The moment he took a breath, he couldn't stop choking and coughing. After spitting out all the river water in his throat, he finally regained some strength and struggled to open his eyes.

The two had been washed ashore by the river. He was currently lying in Chu Jin’s arms, held tightly by the man. Even so, he had many new wounds on his body, washed pale by the water.

The sky was already beginning to lighten. Shen Mengzhi sat up with effort, his fingers touching the cheek of the person beside him. Cautiously, he said, “Chu Jin? Wake up, we've escaped.”

There was no response.

After waiting a moment, he called out softly again, “......Chu Jin?”

He was met with dead silence.

The riverbank was shrouded in a vast, dense, and oppressive white fog. Although a sliver of the sun had appeared on the horizon, waves of cold still washed over him, making him feel as if he had been plunged into an ice cellar.

“I'll save you,” he murmured. “I can save you, you won't die......”

Shen Mengzhi’s breathing was unsteady. He pressed down hard on the other's chest, helping to expel the river water from his lungs. Then he lowered his head and pressed his lips against the man's icy ones.

So cold.

Even every breath he gave seemed to turn to ice.

He didn't know how many breaths he gave, until his own lungs, corroded by the river's chill, began to ache. Chu Jin's breathing was finally no longer faint, but his brows were still slightly furrowed, his eyes shut tight, and his face an unprecedented shade of pale. Shen Mengzhi dazedly pulled back the hand resting on his back, only to see his palm was sticky and scarlet.

He stared at the crimson patch in a daze for a long time, then suddenly shivered.

Eight years, thousands of days and nights, he didn't know how many times he had dreamed of such a scene. Waking up in the middle of the night drenched in a cold sweat, there would always be a moment when he couldn't distinguish dream from reality. In the silent terror, he wouldn't dare close his eyes again. He could only curl up by the bed, counting the sound of dripping water outside the window, enduring one long night after another.

Shen Mengzhi lowered his head.

“I can save you.”

The actions rehearsed a thousand times in his dreams, the regrets mended over and over, the what-ifs that never came true.

—He had to walk out of the nightmare that had tormented him for years.

Shen Mengzhi tried his best to remain calm, slowly exploring every wound on the man before him. Then, without hesitation, he tore clean strips from his clothes and quickly tended to his injuries.

But the man still didn't wake up. His body temperature was even lower.

Shen Mengzhi no longer hesitated. He carefully lifted him onto his back and looked at the unfamiliar mountain forest before him.

In the distance, cooking smoke was rising, curling upwards. He just needed to pass through this forest to find a settlement.

Shen Mengzhi adjusted the man on his back, holding him tighter. Then, step by step, he walked slowly and steadily in the direction of the rising smoke.

“Don't fall asleep.”

He said in a low voice.

But still, no one answered him.

Shen Mengzhi gritted his teeth, enduring the pain coming from his shoulder blades, and continued to walk forward.

......In a daze, he remembered that afternoon eight years ago. It had been just like this.

Also filled with panic and despair, also with no response from the person on his back.

In this terrifyingly dead silence, step by step, he had climbed over the Twelve Peaks of Yanling.

When he looked back, the setting sun reflected like blood, stretching for a thousand li, with no path of return in sight.

The author has something to say:

The rest of the story until the end of Volume 2 will be a flashback... Continuing the memories from Volume 1, it will mainly focus on what happened after Shen and Chu's misunderstanding and the incident of Chu Jin's assassination ^^

(Let's all watch Chuchu's crematorium hhhh)